If you are an employee at an Indian IT company, you would receive an email from your manager asking to update your resume mentioning generative AI skills. It is now a mandatory drill to undergo such training, one can even call it a mania.
Because back in 2017, Mark Cuban, the famous American businessman, said “Artificial Intelligence, deep learning, machine learning — whatever you’re doing if you don’t understand it — learn it. Because otherwise you’re going to be a dinosaur within 3 years.”
This hasn’t changed. Almost an entire generation is studying for jobs that won’t exist. And when it comes to the Indian IT industry, if you are educated, you won’t get a job that pays you well enough. But if you are not that upskilled and do not demand higher salaries, you might be in a better position to land a job.
Indian Employees Look to Reskill
A Reddit user wrote, “I am 25 with a bachelor in CS and masters in AI. With zero YOE [Years of experience], I found it tough to land a job after college and had to settle with a generic SDE [Software Development Engineer] role at a small company.” Many fresh graduates shared similar concerns on forums like Reddit.
Source: Reddit
This sentiment reflects a broader issue faced by many new entrants into the tech industry. Aspiring software engineers/developers consider several strategies to stand out and secure desirable positions.
Indian IT companies have all recently highlighted their commitment to integrate generative AI into their operations. Top firms like TCS, Infosys, and Wipro have been leveraging technology-enabled training for their employees.
Wipro’s foundational training for over 2,25,000 employees, coupled with advanced AI training for an additional 30,000, highlights their approach to AI education within their workforce.
Similarly, Accenture has been expanding its data and AI workforce, reaching approximately 55,000 skilled practitioners. With a goal to double this number to 80,000 by the end of FY2026.
Further, HCL plans to train and upskill around 20,000 employees in generative AI every quarter. It aims to reach 100,000 employees by the end of FY25, reflecting its strategic focus on AI proficiency.
TCS is taking a similar approach, training over 150,000 employees in collaboration with tech giants. TCS aims to build the largest AI-ready workforce in the world through organic reskilling efforts.
Milind Lakkad, TCS’ executive vice president and global head of human resources, noted that the company now has over 100,000 GenAI-ready employees and is investing in further deepening their expertise.
Infosys has trained around 250,000 employees in GenAI capabilities, focusing on enhancing their service offerings through this technology.
While Capgemini has scaled its capabilities significantly by training over 120,000 employees on generative AI tools.
What’s Next?
Accenture has announced over $900 million in new bookings for generative AI, reaching a total of $2 billion fiscal year-to-date during its Q3 FY24 earnings report.
“We have achieved two significant milestones this quarter — with $2 billion in generative AI sales year-to-date and $500 million in revenue year-to-date — demonstrating our early lead in this critical technology,” the company said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Indian IT majors like TCS have doubled up on their AI game. The IT giant announced that it is doubling its AI pipeline to $1.5 billion this quarter, from the $900 million pipeline reported in the previous one.
TCS is now also working on around 270 AI projects worldwide. Moreover, in Q1 FY25, it applied for 154 patents and was granted 277, as revealed by TCS chief K Krithivasan.
Coming to Wipro, it is driving innovation and enhancing productivity through investments in the Lab 45 AI platform and Wipro Enterprise GenAI Studio, incorporating various GenAI tools into the software development lifecycle.
Further, HCL’s AI-led engagements include implementing a GenAI-based solution for a global technology major, automating gaming review analysis, which resulted in significant workload reduction and a 119% increase in game reviews.
Additionally, they are transforming the client’s content lifecycle management with GenAI features.
While Capgemini is currently engaged in over 350 new projects, with more than 2,000 deals in the pipeline. The company has also scaled its capabilities by training over 120,000 employees on generative AI tools and continues to invest in related tools, assets, and platforms.
Seems like Indian IT giants have taken up the herculean task of upskilling the Indian techies with generative AI and also not keeping them unemployed.
